A World Apart
by Hidden Path
Summary: Beginning with the end of Doomsday and going on to weeks afterwards, a look into the lives of the Doctor and Rose Tyler. The Doctor finds a strange radio signal coming from Cardiff, and Rose meets a parallel in this universe that surprises her.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

He leaned against the wall, overwhelmed by such a large feeling of loss, an empty hole forming inside. He put his hand up to rest on the wall, knowing Rose was just on the other side of it-though an entire world away, a parallel universe. He was hesitant to leave the spot, the last connection he had left of Rose Tyler. His throat was sore from yelling just minutes ago, as if he could have saved her by it. And he hadn't even been able to say good-bye...

An idea formed in his mind, and he clung onto the dear hope of it. There was a way to say farewell, and he was going to do it. He slowly started to walk away, putting his hands in his pockets and taking a last look around the room at Torchwood Industries. Maybe it was truly time to leave Earth and let history run its course on its own, without his usual helpful interference. He had lost his only reason to keep coming back here.

He finally left the room to make his way to the TARDIS. As he turned into the corridor outside of the room that had contained the Rift, he almost ran into a young woman, apparently the new boss at Torchwood.

"If you'll excuse me," he murmured, making as to go past her. She grabbed his arm.

"But, Doctor, we'll need you. London and so many other places have high damage and shock levels. We need your help to-"

"I said, if you'll excuse me," the Doctor said, slight irritation creeping into his voice as he pushed past her and began to quickly walk down the hall. She was right on his heels, trying unsuccessfully to keep up his fast pace.

"Doctor, you're the one that knew what was going on in all this!" she insisted as they reached the TARDIS and the Doctor was pulling out his key.

"And you're the one that started all this!" he finally snapped, turning back to her with an angry, yet hurt, look. "Maybe I was wrong in thinking humans are geniuses. A little too much curiosity mixed in your genes and not enough sense to level it back out." The woman just stared, speechless.

"Good, then," the Doctor said after a moment, opening the door to his ship. He stood just inside, ready to close the door.

"You're sure you won't stay?" she asked softly.

"Quite. Now really, I must take my leave. I have little time left."

"What of the girl? Rose Tyler?"

The Doctor paused, the anger fading from his face to be replaced with sadness. "She's dead. I'm going to say good-bye." And with that, he shut the door.

The woman just watched, unsure still of this man. Everyone she had spoken to of him had been correct. He _was_ quite intense. She put her arm up to shield her eyes from the bright light at the top of the police box. As the TARDIS began to fade and the engines whirred, she wondered if the Doctor would ever come back to Earth. And maybe that was for the best.


	2. Chapter One

_Chapter One: Stranger with a Familiar Face_

Rose Tyler sat in the left passenger seat, staring out at the clouds as Mickey Smith drove her through the countryside for her weekly trip to Dårlig Ulv Stranden—Bad Wolf Bay. She sighed, and Mickey glanced at her, concerned. No feelings other than friendship had been resurrected after she had come to live in the parallel universe on her part. Yet perhaps something of that old relationship still lingered in Mickey's heart, though he knew better.

Rose felt both longing to visit this spot every week, though at the same time a painful apprehension. It was the last place she had spoken to the Doctor…_her_ Doctor. Missing him never ceased and the yearning to be with him once again to travel in the TARDIS was just too great. As they arrived at the edge of the abandoned beach, a tear streamed down her face.

"I'll stay here and wait for you," Mickey said. "However long you like."

Rose nodded and got out of the little car with stiff legs. Her hair immediately whipped around her face in the area's constant state of windy weather. She pulled her jacket more tightly around her and folded her arms, walking forward across the beach. She went to stand in the same spot she knew she had stood, as if making a memorial in time and space.

She stared out at the sea, going over those few minutes at Torchwood over and over in her mind. If only she could have held on just half a minute longer… Sobs overcame her as the memory was instead replaced by her last conversation with the Doctor that had taken place right here on this beach. She had said what she needed to say. But what she wouldn't give to hear the Doctor finish that sentence before the transmission had been cut off!

Rose shut her eyes tightly, against the constant throbbing of emotional pain that surged through her head. The wind seemed to pick up, and she struggle to push her hair back in vain. A gentle whirring was heard in the distance.

Rose's eyes popped open in shock, watching as a familiar blue box began to take shape only a few feet away from her, where the Doctor had been standing. A feeling of madness rushed through her as she turned back to Mickey to check her sanity. Across the beach, he was getting gout of the car to stand there in amazement, mouth opened slightly as though he didn't quite believe it himself, either.

At last, the whirring stopped, and the TARDIS was before her in true form. She waited a moment, realizing no one was coming out. Heart pounding, she reached into her pocket to feel the outlines of her TARDIS key. Slowly, she pulled it out. With trembling fingers, she inserted it into the lock on the door and turned it. She returned the key back to her pocket, then gently pushed the door inwards, holding the edge tightly as she looked inside.

There, standing at the TARDIS controls, was the Doctor, looking down at them in scrutiny, face full of concentration. Upon realizing the door was opening, he looked up at her in surprise, not believing what he saw.

With a slight shriek of excitement and tears of pure joy, Rose ran forward across to the control area and threw her arms around the Time Lord. She paused, backing up, realizing he was not hugging her back. Instead, he was staring down at her full of confusion, recognition not even registering upon his face.

Rose took a step back, giving him a strange look. "Playing tricks on me, then?" she asked, her tone only half-kidding. "Come on, now. Joke's over." He only stared at her blankly. "Hey, this isn't funny! Didn't you even miss me?" Her joy was quickly escaping, a worried, scared look on her face.

"Who are you?" was all he asked.

Rose's jaw dropped as she finally realized what was going on. This wasn't the Doctor—_her_ Doctor at least. Was this the Doctor from the parallel world? The thought hadn't even occurred to her before.

"Rose Tyler," she finally managed to respond, realizing he was still standing there expectantly. "And you are?"

"Why, me?" he said, taking a step towards her. "I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor…who?" she asked, just to confirm her growing apprehension.

"Just the Doctor." He stood there looking her, unsure. "But tell me this: How did you get in here?"

Rose held up her key, waving it slightly.

"Where did you get that?" he asked, reaching out for it. She pulled it back, putting it once again into her pocket.

"The Doctor gave it to me," she replied without thinking, realizing how absurd it sounded here.

"The Doctor?" he returned, a truly puzzled look on his face. "Who is this 'Doctor'?"

Rose looked down for a moment, only glancing up to him before she spoke. "I'm from…a parallel universe."

The Doctor stared at her still. "So you mean the parallel world's Doctor?" Rose nodded. "Well then," he said, raising his eyebrows and sticking his hands into his pockets, which Rose noticed immediately. She smiled slightly, though still tense. "May I ask why he would give you a key to the TARDIS?"

"'Course," Rose answered, shrugging. "I was his companion."

The Doctor looked shocked. "Companion?" he asked incredulously, shaking his head. "I've never had a companion before. I travel alone."

"Seriously?" Rose asked. He nodded.

"I'm not quite sure of you, then," he said, beginning to walk around the panel thoughtfully. He ran his hand through his hair, a look of concentration on his face. "I don't have companions. Would my parallel?"

"But things are different in parallel universes, all based on the decision the other one makes," Rose put in.

"Well, parallel worlds aren't _that_ different. Being parallel and all," he started. "Well, maybe a bit… Well, perhaps you're right." He turned, and Rose relaxed a little at the familiarity in reasoning. "But then, how do I know you're not making all this up?"

Rose frowned at this. He was much more doubtful than her Doctor. "I know things normal humans wouldn't." He waited, wanting her to elaborate. "I've seen Slitheen on Raxacorricofallipatorius. Cybermen yelling "Delete"… Oh, and Daleks! Thousands of Daleks!"

The Doctor stiffened at their mention, his face falling. "Where do you live and work? And why are you here and not with this other Doctor?"

"I live in London and work at the Torchwood Inst-"

"See there!" he exclaimed, interrupting. "A lot more of alien life is known there than the average human."

"But, Doctor," Rose said evenly, "I know more than the facility there has discovered. And I haven't added from what I know, either. It's the human's course to self-discover it…"

"Alright then. Where is this other Doctor?"

It was Rose's turn to be saddened, and a gloom shrouded her face. "I got closed off in this world from him in a war."

The Doctor walked away, his back turned towards her, facing the central cylinder of the TARDIS. Rose knew that had set him back a step again, and she needed to mention the one thing that would convince him.

"I know about the Time War." He stayed still, very rigid. She knew she hit it right. "The Doctor in my universe killed all the Daleks during it."

The Doctor swallowed. "But he would have wiped out the entire Time Lord race in the process." He walked forward to the other side of the controls quietly.

"He had to," Rose replied slowly, though matter-of-factly. "And what about you, Doctor? What did you do in the Time War?"

He remained quiet, reaching down to push a few buttons.

"What are you doing there?" Rose asked quickly, panic rising within her. She rushed forward.

"I believe you," he only replied. The whirring started, and the cylinder began to pump up and down.

"What are you doing?" she cried. She could see Mickey running towards them in the outside monitor, but it was too late when he got there.


	3. Chapter Two

_Chapter Two: Signals to Space_

The Doctor rushed around the controls of the TARDIS, trying to stabilize his ship as it precariously flew through time and space. He pushed buttons, seemingly at random, though he really did know what he was doing.

"No, no!" he cried, trying to fix the error it had caused within itself. He missed Rose's helping hand once again. At last, the ship was back to normal, and he allowed himself the chance to sit down, glancing tiredly at the small screens. He did a double-take as he noticed a radio signal coming from a familiar planet—Earth. He sighed, realizing he was actually never going to be able to leave the planet for good. He set the coordinates for Earth, trying to locate details of its origin on his way.

"Cardiff," he said with a sniff. "Alright then. Let's see what sort of not-so-human life is sending this signal out to space." The Doctor walked away from the controls, heading to the doors.

As slowly opened them, he noticed he had landed on another random street corner. He left the TARDIS, closing the door behind him. He puts his hands in his pockets as he began to stroll down the streets, wishing Rose was there with him as always.

People were going to and fro, nothing out of the normal here. _At least it's just being done in secret. Not dragging the humans into anything this time,_ he thought. He walked on, wondering where such a large signal could be transmitting to space.

"Hurry!" he heard a couple saying up ahead. "It's almost time." The Doctor stopped to watch several people on the street either rush into their homes or a nearby store. He raised his eyebrows. Perhaps he had thought too soon. He stood in a store's window, watching as a small crowd gathered around the radio and turned the volume up loud.

"Excuse me," he said softly to a man who was rushing into the store to join up with the lot. The man had a slightly annoyed look at being held up, but he still stopped.

"Yes, well, what is it?" the man asked quickly.

"What's going on with the radio here?"

"You're not from around here, eh, stranger?" he went on with a laugh.

"Nope, that's right," the Doctor said with a grin. "Just passing through. It is 2006, though, right?"

The man looked at him strangely. "Yeah… Must've been some night you had! Anyway, radios are big lately. Mostly this new program that comes on right now. So if you'll exc—"

"What is this program?" the Doctor cut in quickly.

"News. Games. Entertainment. The lot. It really is great though." The man turned and went in quickly before the Doctor could ask anymore questions.

The Doctor stood there only a moment longer, seeing how everyone was at least taking time to turn on their radios. He turned, glancing towards the radio tower ahead.

"To the station then," he murmured.

He walked briskly down the streets, not having to worry about a crowd, at least. He glanced up at the top of the building before he walked in, shaking his head at the antennae and satellites for broadcasting Cardiff.

_Perhaps a safe bet for an alien signal_, he thought.

Putting his hands in his pockets again, he walked up to the counter where the secretary was seated.

"Any chance I could speak to the man in charge of the currently airing program?" he asked with a congenial smile.

The secretary sat there, giving him a strange look. "I'm sorry, sir, but the show is going on right now. You'll have to talk to her later."

"Her?" the Doctor asked.

"I should hope so," a new voice replied lightly. The Doctor turned, a new woman standing in the doorway to the studio.

"Apologies," he replied, trying not to smile.

"It's fine. You must not listen to the show. And Linda, next time let me decide when I'm too busy. Come in, sir. The sponsors are just running their bit now."

The Doctor went forward quickly into the room, the woman closing the door behind them. "I'm the Doctor, by the way."

"Anna Rogers," she replied. "And I'm in charge of the show. Sit down, will you? Now, what is it you came for?"

The Doctor sat down in a rolling chair near her, looking down at the sound board before him. "I was curious about this program that you're running 'round here that all these people flock to their radios to listen." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a slight, small wisp of blue slowly circle her face. He turned his head quickly, though it was gone.

"What is it, Doctor?" Anna asked, noticing how quickly he had turned. He paused, wondering at it.

"I…just thought I saw something, that's all. Go on though."

"Alright, I suppose. I just thought everyone loved this show. I guess it's just their current fad. Not that I'm complaining," she said with a smile.

"Oh, but surely it's more than that," the Doctor said softly. "Like that blue wisp I just saw in front of your face."

"Doctor, your eyes must be deceiving you."

"My eyesight's as good as ever, thank you" he replied, standing up. "Something is being transmitted from this radio station. And I'd like to know what it is." 

"Radio programs?" Anna suggested.

"Yeah, but why would so many love the programs? And it's only this one! People go to turn on the same one every day. But why? Why not a television program?"

Even as he was staring at her, the blue wisp came to surround her face once again, her eyes wide and appearing lifeless as the wisp came from her open mouth.

"Impossible!" the Doctor whispered.

The wisp reentered her mouth, and the life came back to her face. She gasped, trying to take in air as if she had just come out of water.

"So I can see why you don't use the telly," the Doctor said dryly, standing up. Anna jumped up as well, not wanting him to go.

"I can't," she said nodding. "But this is the only way I can send the signal out, the only way I have."

"You shouldn't even be here! It's impossible!" he cried. "I've seen the lot of you before, though at this moment I've only seen one of you. You were contained centuries ago."

"And yet here I am. And I need your help, Time Lord."


	4. Chapter Three

_Chapter Three: Coward or Time Lord_

"Where are you taking me?" Rose finally asked again, sitting near the controls with her arms crossed.

"Isn't that the question of the day," he commented dryly. He backed away finally and just stood there, watching the cylinder pump until at last, it stopped. Rose jumped up and went to the controls, pushing a button before he could stop her. "Oi! What are you doing?"

"Just checking where we stopped is all," Rose responded in a tone just under a snappy retort. The monitor showing what was outside the TARDIS came to life again, and a picture flashed up on the screen.

Rose jumped back and fell into the seat again as she bumped into it. Her eyes were wide as she stared in disbelief at the sight before her.

"Impossible!" she murmured. "So many! Where did they all come from?!"

"They survived the Time War," the Doctor said above a whisper, his hand poised above various levers as though ready to leave.

"But what happened to Earth?" she asked quickly.

"Nothing yet," he started sadly. "But they're preparing an invasion."

"Why? What will they do with the planet?"

"Change everyone on Earth. Make them like Daleks."

"Because everything that isn't like them is wrong," Rose cut in, showing her understanding on the subject. "'The ultimate racial cleansing.'"

"Couldn't have put it better myself," he said, nodding.

"I'll bet… But what will they do after that?"

"Add Earth to the great Dalek Empire," he said mockingly.

Rose just stared in shock at the monitor still, watching the hundreds of Dalek ships just floating there in space, ready to attack whenever they pleased. "What year is it?" she asked.

"2006," he replied. "Your present. We only left Earth to view the space around it."

Rose jumped up. "Seriously?" she asked. He nodded gravely. He reached forward once again, pushing buttons and making the cylinder pump once again. "Where are we going now?" she demanded. He didn't reply, though she expected as much. "Well isn't anyone going to do anything about it then? What about Torchwood? We haven't had any readings or anything! How'd they get past our technology?"

"No offense, but your 'technology', as you put it, is no where near the strength of the Daleks'!" he said.

"But no one on Earth can do anything about it!"

"Your point?"

Rose rushed forward and spun him around to face her. "You're the Doctor! You're the last Time Lord, are you not?"

"I am," he said softly, sadness on his face again.

"Then do something about it!" she cried. "You're the only hope the Earth has, though no one but me knows it!"

"They destroyed my people!" he retorted. "How do you expect me to wipe them out on my own?"

"You're the Doctor, you'll think of something!" she replied coldly.

"I can't fight them" he whispered angrily.

Rose stared at him disbelievingly. "What?"

"I cannot fight them!" he roared at her.

She just stared at him, not sure what to say. He was completely foreign to her, his mind, his thinking, and his lack of action. Something was different here in this universe to make him like that. "What happened in the Time War?" she asked softly.

He just looked at her, shaking his head.

"What happened?" she demanded again, slightly louder this time.

He scowled before he answered. "They destroyed my people and my home."

"I know that!" she snapped. "But that's not all, is it? What did _you_ do in the War?"

He paused a long time, such a look of pain covering his face. "I couldn't help them. I couldn't save them… I also couldn't destroy them. The Daleks wiped them out—all of them. And I ran away, unable to avenge them all on my own." His head fell, and he looked at the ground.

Rose stared at him in awe of the fact that he had just run away. "But you can save Earth. _My_ race. And you won't?"

"I can't," he whispered in a frightened voice.

She scrunched up her face, anger and fear mixing within her and tears running down her face. "You're nothing like my Doctor."

"I never claimed to be," he said, putting his hands into his pockets.

"But you _are_ a coward," she replied slowly.

"Any day."


	5. Chapter Four

_Chapter Four: Princess of the Gelth_

The Doctor followed the woman called Anna Rogers from the back of the station into a car with a ready driver. _Certainly prepared for all this_, he thought. As they pulled onto the road, he finally began to question her with the million thoughts that were racing through his mind, struggling to make sense of it.

"So how did you all escape?" he began. "The Gelth?"

"We didn't," she answered grimly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, after a moment.

"All the others were contained. I had earlier escaped them; I had only been dragged along as a prisoner. I was…a rogue among the rogues."

"Rogues?" the Doctor asked, looking puzzled. "We were told then that the Gelth were the last left, because of the effects of the Time War. That was the reason they had no true bodily form."

Anna laughed mockingly. "The reason they had no _true_ body is because they were expelled from the Gelth home world. A punishment for eternity as a wandering spirit."

"And you? You said you were a prisoner of them."

Anna's face fell, and she looked away from him out of the window. "They dragged me into the process before they could be stopped, as a ransom of sorts." She paused, tears coming down her face. "I was their princess, the heir to the throne of the Gelth. Instead, they doomed me to their fate and brought me with them to be separated from my people as long as they were."

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor said softly, sadness on his face. "I really am."

"All has been said and done," Anna went on briskly, wiping the tears from her face quickly. "No way to go back in time and fix it, I suppose." The Doctor cringed at the mention, not even wanting to fix it. Somehow, it would alter his own time line…not mention that of Rose…

The pain pushed itself back to the front of his attention, the pain among his hearts again, and he struggled to keep focused on the matter at hand. He forced another question to come forth. "So how did you survive all these years? The Gelth over two centuries ago could barely survive in a host body for more than five minutes."

Anna shrugged. "Anything can learn to adapt over time."

_Not all things_, the Doctor thought. _Sometimes pain can be too much. Loss never goes away._ "Yet you still haven't perfected it," he pointed out.

"Yes," she agreed. "As you've seen earlier. It's almost like surfacing to breathe for me. But it's reduced to about three times a day. Two centuries is a long time to change enough to fix this body and understand the human race."

"You still haven't told me this," he went on softly. "Where you got that body. Where'd you find her? And why her?"

"She was a poor woman immigrant from northern Scotland. The unfortunate human died, and no one even noticed. Poor thing. At my home, we have elaborate funerals, even for our poor. It was almost as if this way was for her to keep living."

"So you were careful about it then?"

"Very."

The Doctor paused a moment, remembering her crying earlier. "How did you gain control over her as deep as emotions?"

She smiled. "It was hard to learn, but I managed it somehow. As I said earlier, time has made it easier for me to connect with this body."

The Doctor nodded, taking all this in and fitting the pieces together. But a chunk of the story was still missing. "What about the radio waves? All the people listening to it? The signal to space?"

"I needed a lot of these little radio waves to make my signal. Unfortunately, there needed to be enough of it concentrated with a few simultaneous ways…many people at once, all for a good length of time, and days in a row, if necessary."

"So how did you manage it?"

"Subliminal messaging through the radio. A harmless, mild message to the humans in Cardiff to want to listen to this show everyday; and spread the news to some friends if possible. These humans do love their programs after all." She smiled momentarily before continuing. "I had another message to let them get over the desire when my signal would be picked up."

"How many days have you been sending this signal out? And how did you expect it to reach your people?"

"It's been five days now. And I didn't expect them to get it. They're across the Galaxy and through the Rift, after all. I was trying to reach _you_ with that signal. Though I am still surprised you actually picked it up and came down here, especially after that girl… Still seems strange to me though. I'm not used to seeing time travelers, myself. She didn't even look any different than she did over 200 years ago, and yet you are completely new. Stranger still. Life on the slow path must be boring compared to the life you lead."

"Yet you have something that not even I am granted," the Doctor said grimly. "A life day after day. Though it has been stuck here on this Earth, away from your people and your home. I understand the loneliness in that… But why me? Why did you send out the message for me to get?"

"You had a brave and helping heart all those years ago," she replied in remembrance. "It was the others that would be so weak as to take advantage of that help as use it for their evil scheme."

"How do you think I can take you back home? I can't open the Rift."

"You can't Doctor. But I can." He looked at her in surprise. "The others didn't know that. And I wouldn't have helped them anyway, even if they did know it. It was a gift in my royal family, though it was never before used."

"Then what do you need me for?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"If I open the Rift, the other rogue Gelth could come back into this world. It's dangerous. I can't do it without your help, Doctor. This is such a lovely world, but they would attempt the same thing they did two hundred years ago."

"But how can we stop them? How can we keep them contained?"

"I don't know."


	6. Chapter Five

_Chapter Five: Stuck in the Future_

Rose woke up as the TARDIS jerked, coming to an all-too-sudden stop. She fell sideways, slipping off the bench in the control room where she had drifted off to sleep.

"What happened?" she murmured with a grumpy edge, her hand on the side of her head where she had bumped it.

The Doctor was rushing around the console with a puzzled look, apparently ignoring her question and perhaps her general presence. After all, he had said he was used to traveling on his own. Rose stood up, going to stand by him to assert herself. At last, he took notice of her question.

"It seems we've hit…well, sort of nothing."

"_Sort of _nothing?" Rose asked dryly, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well see, that's the thing. It's nothing. Sort of a bump in time, an air bubble if you will."

Rose glanced at him, not having enough information to decide if this really mattered or not. "Where have you taken us?"

The Doctor kept a walk around the console, touching various controls and checking readings. "The future," he said absentmindedly.

Rose had a bad feeling about this. Apprehension grew within her, and she was scared to ask her question. But at last, she couldn't wait any longer. "So what's supposed to be in this 'bubble'? Something's missing, isn't it?" The Doctor stood quietly, looking up gravely at her. "What isn't there?" she demanded, panic rising in her voice.

"Earth."

Rose fell back to sit hard in her chair once again, leaning back and covering her mouth with her hands. She fought tears, but they came anyway. It was as if everything had been a bad dream since she came to this parallel world: being stuck here, that loss of the Doctor, the forced average life; being trapped with this coward fake copy of the Doctor, the eminent doom of a helpless earth by the Daleks…and now, nothing. Nothing was left for her. Earth was gone, she was here in the future with this coward, and the few things she had left—her parents and Mickey—were now even gone as well.

"You!" she cried, jumping up and pointing an accusing finger at the Doctor. "It's all your fault!"

"My fault?" he asked calmly, looking up at her, his facial expression changing from confusion to annoyance. "_You_ came on _my_ ship."

"And _you_ took _me_ away from my home! My planet. My family. My existence."

The Doctor snorted. "Your true home was on your parallel world a Galaxy away. Your existence was marked by loss. And your home was never real to you."

"But my family," Rose whimpered, ache in her voice. "My family was real, from my real home, my only comfort. The only true thing I had left."

The Doctor looked away, actually at a loss for words. To distract himself, he returned his attention to his monitors.

Anger flared once again in Rose at his complacency. She forced herself in front of him to block his vision of the monitors.

"Not only did you let the Daleks destroy _your_ home, you let them destroy mine as well."

The Doctor stared Rose in the eyes, her glaring, forceful, condemning gaze penetrating him. Unfortunately, she was the first to look away, however unmoving, the cold look from the man that looked like her Doctor crushing her even more.

As watched her, not letting his eyes leave her face, he realized his true thoughts and general coldness to this young woman. She wanted to be treated like an equal; practically demanded it. He realized that was because of her old life, the one with this Doctor that went around saving the Galaxy and visiting far-off worlds for the dangerous fun of it. He had trusted her as his companion, used her help, made her respect him…and perhaps more. She seemed quite devoted.

But to him, Rose was just an earth human who had seen a lot. What experience did he have with her to trust her as his parallel did? Besides, to her he seemed less than willing to even try trusting her, let alone setting her an equal. He was a Time Lord after all, and she was a human.

"Take me home."

The Doctor snapped back to attention, realizing Rose was looking at him again, waiting expectantly with a fiery look.

"What?"

"I said, take me home!" she snapped, her eyes flashing. "If you won't save them, then I will! Just take me back so I can warn them and help in whatever way I can! My mum…and dad, and Mickey…"

"You can't save them," he said softly. "The Daleks—"

"I know," she interrupted. He stared at her, surprised. "But at least I can try. Or die trying."

The Doctor stared at her, realizing at last that her decision was unwavering. He sighed, motion for her to move. As she did, he reached for his customary levers to go back to Rose's present-day earth. Rose stood for a moment, arms crossed, waiting impatiently. He reached for another knob, a puzzled look forming on his face.

A lump formed in Rose's throat. She swallowed before asking. "What's wrong?"

"It seems," the Doctor began miserably, "that we're stuck in the timeline." He paused, his brow furrowing more as he went to look in the monitor once more: empty space, where earth should have been. "That doesn't make sense. Something should be happening for us to be stuck… It looks like open space out there." An idea struck him. "We could've landed on a ship." He rushed around to another monitor, reading quickly as he put on his glasses. "Yes, definitely in another vessel. Built by humans, it seems."

"Let's go meet the neighbors then," Rose said, moving towards the door. "Can't be so bad, eh? Built by humans." She opened the door and took a step outside.

"Yes; but why, that's the thing." The Doctor started to reach for his glasses to remove them, but stopped as updated information filled the screen, his jaw dropping as he scanned its contents.

Outside, Rose was getting a bearing on her surroundings. She wondered what year they were in as she took a good look. As she turned to face the massive viewing window, she felt a wave of déjà vu. In it, she could see the same outside view of the place where earth was supposed to be located. Frowning, she turned around slowly, looking at the empty room, an observation deck.

"Doctor," she said, her voice high after she realized what this place had been. "This isn't a ship. It's a space station. A…satellite."

The Doctor heard this, but it didn't matter. However, what he had just read did have great importance. "Rose!" he yelled, running to the door of the TARDIS just as a door across the room of the station slid open.

Rose turned around as memories of the news station and game station began flashing through her mind. The memories halted though, as soon as the first inhabitant of the satellite came through the door. She pressed her back against the TARDIS as it yelled at them.

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"


End file.
